Three seats currently held by Republicans are up for election next year. Justices Mike Bolin and Tom Parker are seeking re-election, but Justice Patti Smith is not. Parsons, a Democrat, says he will decide later which of the seats he will seek.

Three seats currently held by Republicans are up for election next year. Justices Mike Bolin and Tom Parker are seeking re-election, but Justice Patti Smith is not.

"I'm going to run. It's just a matter of which seat," Parsons told The Associated Press.

Parsons is the first Democrat to announce for next year's Supreme Court races. State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham said Monday that two other circuit judges and a prominent Birmingham attorney are considering running as Democrats.

Turnham said Parsons will be a strong candidate, no matter which race he chooses, because he's a popular figure in Alabama's largest county.

"He's a proven vote-getter. He's a populist who can turn a phrase and use homespun wisdom," Turnham said.

Parsons, 66, is wrapping up his second six-year term as a circuit judge. Based in Bessemer, Parsons has handled several high-profile cases, including three teenagers convicted of beating a grocery store owner to death with baseball bats and the kidnapping and slaying of Miles College freshman Jackstin Hunter.

Prior to becoming a judge, Parsons served 16 years in the state Senate.

In his first term, the freshman used self-deprecating humor to break through a long filibuster by opponents and pass the state's consumer protection law. Among other things, Parsons took off his shoes and complained about his sore feet. Opponents were laughing so hard, Parsons was able to outmaneuver them.

In later years, Parsons blew the whistle on the legislators' "pass-through pork." Those were projects that were not spelled out in the budget, but legislators had behind-the-scenes agreements with department heads to fund them.

Parsons also filed a suit that stopped the legislative practice of "log rolling." That involved legislators putting several unrelated projects into one bill to get enough votes to get the bill passed.

Parson's colleagues didn't take kindly to his actions to clean up legislative budgeting. In 1993, the Legislature drew new Senate districts and moved Parsons' Hueytown home to a heavily Republican district. Knowing he couldn't win another term in the Senate, Parsons ran for state agriculture commissioner in 1994 and lost.

Despite those difficulties in the Senate, Parsons said, "I had some good times."